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Erebus Arc: Confession of the Soul
Aether stood in his room, looking outside the window to the beautiful city of Crocus. He was waiting for Samarra. He clutched his chest, where Janus had opened the door to his soul. He smiled. The image of his father still etched into his mind. "Mother was right. I do look a lot like him." The more he thought of Samarra's impending arrival the more his heart fluttered. "Strange thing being able to feel again." Everything he had felt before was nothing compared to what he had sealed away. Walking up slowly, Samarra looked as if she was deep in thought, contemplating something important. Seeing that she was approaching the spot where Aether told her to meet him, she seems to snap out of her daze and walks into greet Aether with a smile. Aether turned to her, returning the smile with his own. He seemed brighter, more cheery than he had before. He walked up to her, and sighed. "Where do I even begin?" "Well the beginning is always a good place to start." Samarra said giggling. Taking a seat next to the fellow guild master. His appearance became more somber. He found himself unable to look her in the eye. "There's something I haven't told you. No one in fact. The only one that knows is my mother, but I wouldn't have told her if she wasn't there. I told you that my grandfather died, which is how I took over as guild master. But he didn't die of natural causes. Nor was he killed in battle. I killed him. In one savage strike, I killed my grandfather, and Erebus was born." "Oh...well that was a bit abrupt and unexpected..." Samarra says and she is slowly processing the information. She places her hand on Aether's and bends down to try and look him in the eye. "It's okay Aether. I am sure you had a good reason for doing what you did, and Erebus is no longer tied to you. You shouldn't hold on to that pain. The present is already challenging enough; you just make it more difficult by carrying the past with you." Samarra looks intently, showing that she is paying attention and cares for his overall wellbeing; she waits patiently as her words pass through the ears of her friend. "In my opinion my cause was just," said Aether, calming down from Samarra's words. "He hit my mother. And frankly, I had already had enough of his abuse. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. But I did feel remorse. Using the Body Link, I sealed Erebus along with most of emotions and power deep within myself. I was afraid of him." He began to smile. "But I'm not afraid anymore." He met her gaze, his warm eyes staring into her's. "I'm really glad. Now that the burden is lifted you have no need to carry your pain any longer. The past is the past, we must focus on the here and now." She said with a bright smile, seeing that Aether's spirit had lifted a bit. "But I am glad that you feel close enough to share such personal details with me; and I promise I will keep them secret if that is what you wish." "There was one more reason I wanted to talk to you," said Aether. "My mother's getting married, and I was hoping you could be my date." Aether smiled brightly. Clapping her hands together in front of her, Samarra's eyes light up like stars. "Aw, Miriam is getting married! How sweet! And of course, I would love to be your date to the wedding. I have actually never been to one myself, so it should be fun." "Really?" said Aether playfully. "I would've assumed that a woman of your caliber would've been invited to many weddings. It's strange really, usually one's parents get married before their child is born, or at least before he reaches adulthood." "I suppose I just don't have enough friends who are at that time in their life to get married. And yes, that is an idea that's commonly believed, but you can't really put a timeline on love right?" Samarra says. "I guess you're right," said Aether. In a fluid motion he wrapped his arms around her, and brought her into a deep kiss. Placing her hands on his chest, she pushes back, refusing the kiss to choke out what she was pondering on her way over. "Listen Aether, there is something I need to tell you..." Her voice was shaky, and her eye contact flickered in and out. "What is it?" asked Aether, not upset about the rejection of his kiss, but more confused. He had a bad feeling in his gut. Samarra began rubbing her arm up and down as a nervous habit while she spoke. "So ever since we last met up I have been thinking over things in my mind and trying to figure out what this is and what direction it is going. I have gone through countless reasons, different memories of the past, and contemplation about the future; and I think I final have my mind settled..." She takes a deep breath as she glaces at Aether for a sense of how he is feeling. If Erebus was still sealed within him, he would've managed to remain calm. Unfortunately, he was not. Worry could not begin to explain the appearance on Aether's face. He was sweating as well, although the light drops that people can't normally see. ''"I should've told her sooner." ''He thought. "Aether I think we should take a break from whatever--this is." She said as she gestured between them. "I think it's best for the both of us if we take some time to find ourselves and learn what path we want to walk. I know that you have just found yourself anew, and I believe it would be best if I didn't complicate that with unspoken emotions and mixed signals." She places her hand back atop Aether's as she looks him in the eyes, trying to convey all that she held inside. "It isn't that I don't care for you, I really do. But I feel we may have rushed into things that may not be right for us right now. We have just became leaders of an alliance that is still in it's infancy, and we wouldn't want to complicate that. The fact that you find yourself free of a pain you held for years, also is something that I think you should explore on your own, and find who you are as your own person." Her eyes begin to well up with tears, as they threaten to overflow. "I hope you understand Aether..." Aether looked like he was about to cry, but as the tears began to fall, he started to laugh. "You know something? I'm a coward. I was afraid of unleashing Erebus, afraid of all the enemies I had defeated coming back to destroy my loved ones, but most of all, I was afraid you wouldn't reciprocate my feelings for you. Now I've faced all my fears, and I feel like an enourmous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Don't get me wrong, that did hurt me, but now I know that I never have to go through something like that again. And now I feel like I should tell you the third reason I invited you here. I don't expect this to change your decision, but..." He took a huge gulp. "I love you Samarra Inari! I always have. I just didn't realize it until now." Samarra smiles a bit at the words of the man in front of her, but it slowly fades as she speaks, "That's very sweet Aether, and I care for you a lot. Please don't mistake this as a cold-hearted move. But I just don't think I can return your feelings without deeply hurting the future that we have just begun to create. I believe the alliance we have made could thrive, and I don't want to hurt that by mixing it with personal emotions; especially to a man who has just gotten hold of his emotions once again. I'm sorry, but I am going to hold firm on my stance that we need to find out who we are as people before we can find out if we are meant to be together. Your eyes have just been opened to a whole new world, one without Erebus, and I want you to see that on your own. I still want to maintain our relationship, as we have truly grown from knowing each other, but I want that relationship to be just as friends. I'm sorry..." Her eyes were filled with remorse and sadness at what she was doing to the man she held dear, even if this was the decision she thought was best. Aether wore a somber smile. "Alright," said Aether. "You are the Flash Tactician after all. I look forward to when we figure things out. And I still expect to see you at that wedding." "O-of course, I would still love to come." Samarra stammers about, a bit confused at the easy acceptance of the man who just admitted that he loved her. "And I look forward to when we figure things out too, but for now, let's just figure out who we are." Samarra says with a small smile as she pokes at Aether's chest, right where his heart should be. As Samarra left the room, Aether sat down in a chair, contemplating what had just transpired. Suddenly a door opened out of this air and Janus Saturnalia walked through. "Sorry about that, son," he said. "Do you ever knock?" asked Aether jokingly. "Well, technically I can't. Are you going to be okay?" "Yeah, I know she'll come back to me one day. I could sense it." "You truly are your mother's son. You may look like me, but you act like her." "Nurture over nature father. Now let's go find your best man."